Opening Day Update

The 2014 golf season begins today and I would like to welcome you back to a summer of uninterrupted golf. After 2 seasons of construction and hosting the CN Women's Canadian Open the Turf Care department is looking forward to grooming and presenting the course to you and you alone. Our goal, as always, is to provide you with the finest playing experience that The Royal Mayfair can deliver. In maintaining the course at a championship level we have developed a good idea as to what areas we can improve upon and also how we can change our agronomic practices to meet the demands of a premier golf facility. However, during the month of May, we do have to recover from some winter damage that hit the 18th, 8th, large practice and warmup greens.

As you may or may not be aware of the 18th green was resodded with turf from our nursery. The decision was made based on my experience with long term recovery in this part of Alberta. If May isn't warm and wet waiting for Poa annua recovery will stretch into June and eventually July. We will hopefully be back on the 18th green by the May Long Weekend. It won't match the other greens in terms of speed and roll as we need to cautious with our mowing height for awhile. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

The warmup green recovery will take a different path than #18. We don't have enough sod that is ready for use to cover what is required. Any sod we do have needs to be saved for incidental repairs from some minor winter damage and also any future problems we may experience during the season. I didn't want to resod with pure bentgrass from a sod farm because we would then have a completely different putting surface than the golf course greens (a Poa/bentgrass mix). The warmup has been worked on extensively and will stay covered with a tarp that will heat the surface and keep soil temperatures higher than normal for this time of year. By staying off it and basically "greenhousing" the turf, recovery will be rapid. The putting green and #8 are coming along fine and should be back to normal by the end of May. There is also some minor damage to greens #2 and #16 caused by someone walking on the greens. Once the irrigation system is on (next few days) we will plug out those areas.

Course cleanup finally began in earnest last week and will continue for another few days. We verticut all the rough and sweeping up the debris takes time. Not all of the old loose grass could be swept up so you will notice it on your shoes and cart wheels for a few days. Once we begin mowing the rough the loose grass will cease to be a problem.

This was the new sod on #18 after its first mow earlier this week. It has since been heavily topdressed, brushed and rolled again. The cover is back on it to keep it warm at night. The front collar will be sodded in the next week and we will be reshaping the top edge of the right green side bunker to stop the constant washouts that occur after heavy rains.

Before I close I'm very pleased to announce that The Royal Mayfair is now a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Through the efforts of our 2nd Assistant Superintendent, David Smith, and the members of the Environmental Improvement Committee we are now one of 18 courses in Alberta and the first in the Edmonton area to achieve this status. I'm proud of our efforts to combine the game of golf with stewardship of the land and air especially in the center of a major metropolitan area.

All for now and see you on the course.
Wade Peckham

Royal Mayfair Golf Club Update

Good Friday is tomorrow and the weather is not cooperating in the Edmonton area. After a previous week of warm weather we are not progressing any further. There is still snow and ice on the course and many areas that have cleared are still quite wet. We cannot move freely about the course and begin cleanup due to the conditions. A few sunny warmer days will allow us to finally sweep the debris from winter and begin preparations for opening day which should be around the 30th of April. The driving range and practice area are ready to go once it quits snowing. When the practice area does open we have designated the north green and bunker for chipping and the south green for putting practice as the warmup and putting greens are not ready at this time. A new change you will soon notice on the practice tees are range finders for members to use to determine target green yardages  We are currently working on the details and setup. This will reduce "signage clutter" and provide a new unique service for those members who want accurate distances for their practice sessions.

The golf course turf is in a holding pattern with the current weather conditions. The cold temperatures at night and throughout the day are not unusual for April and as a result the bright green look when the snow first melts is being replaced with a duller more natural color for this time of year. The Poa annua throughout the course really tends to back off until the temperatures begin to climb again. The snow we have been getting is actually providing needed moisture on the tees and some of the greens.

As you may be aware we are currently working on the 3 damaged greens around the clubhouse area. The warmup and putting greens are being aerated, verticut, overseeded and topdressed when the weather permits. They are then covered with tarps to increase soil temperatures far quicker than if they are left uncovered. In addition to staying off them for a few weeks this will greatly assist in recovery.

The 18th green is currently being sodded (between snowfalls). The decision to resod was based on my experience with recovery of damaged greens at past golf courses. If the month of May isn't as warm as required recovery of damaged turf will stretch into June and even July. The 18th green would be very bumpy and would need to be continuously topdressed in order to provide a half decent playing surface. By sodding now with our own nursery turf we have reduced the recovery time dramatically. The use of our nursery is important at this point. It is similar to our other greens in that it is a blend of Poa annua (from our aeration cores) and bentgrass seed. We used Penncoss creeping bentgrass to match the turf type on our greens. Of course this will mean the use of a temporary green until mid May thus giving the sod enough time to establish itself. The green will not be the same speed and firmness as the others when we do open it for play. That will take approximately another month of care and attention but it will be open.

I realize that the mention of a temporary green strikes fear in all golfers and is something not seen here since the late 1980's but when a golf course changes over the years from a newly renovated bentgrass green facility to a Poa/bentgrass mix we now need to accept some damage at times or decide on change. This will be discussed at length this season and will be presented in future blog postings and course communications.

The 18th green looks okay from a distance but there is not enough healthy turf to result in a quick recovery. The ice cover was not complete as you may notice towards the back. That turf is in pretty good condition but still not enough when you look in the foreground.

Earlier this week we recorded the elevation numbers across the surface, rototilled the top several inches, added amendments and root zone material. This picture only shows the preliminary work. It was then rolled, firmed up and had the elevation (or contours) checked.

Its Thursday morning and the sodding has begun even with the snow that fell overnight. We need to get this finished before warmer weather returns. Difficult, tiring work for the Turf Care staff but definitely worth the effort.



When the green is finished and cleaned up it will be rolled, topdressed and covered with a dark colored tarp to heat the surface and speed establishment of the sod.

Royal Mayfair Turf Care Update

We have now been able to assess the entire golf course after a week of warm, windy weather. I'll review the rough, fairways, tees and greens separately and outline what will entail over the next few weeks before opening day which is tentatively planned for April 30th.

The practice facility will open on April 16th. The natural range tee surface is in good condition but will not open for use until we have better growing conditions and the irrigation system is turned on. Until that time the Turf Hound mats will be used. The chipping greens will be ready as well. The putting green has suffered some damage to the Poa annua but it still has plenty of good area to use while it recovers. The warmup has suffered extensive winter kill due to the high percentage of Poa. We will keep it closed for the time being so that the overseeding efforts stand a chance of success. It will be tarped and should recover quickly if the weather cooperates. It's location near the buildings and paths will also help raise the surface temperature on sunny days.

The rough throughout the golf course is covered in snow mold. It is quite obvious where the dividing line is between fungicide treated turf and untreated turf. We did treat a pass around every green so most of the side banks are free of mold. As occurred last spring we will begin verticutting all the rough to break up the mat of mold. After some sunshine, warmer temperatures, and fertilizer it will be okay.

#15 looking back at the tee. Without fungicides the fairway would look like the rough on the left of the image. Snow mold rarely kills turf in the rough. If the fairway wasn't treated most of the Poa prevalent here would be severely damaged.

The fairways and tees have come through the winter in very good condition. Our tees are predominantly bentgrass so they can withstand our harsh winters far better than the Poa that is mixed in with the bent on some of the tees. The fairways have changed dramatically over the years to the point where Poa has become the main turf type in many areas. When aerated, topdressed regularly and treated with winter fungicides it seems to come through winter in fairly good condition year after year. Of course if the fairways were covered in a thick layer of ice for more than 50 days I imagine it would be a different story.

#14 tee looking down the fairway. The importance of an effective winter fungicide program is obvious.

Now about greens 1 to 18. As I touched on in the previous blog we have not come through winter unscathed. All the greens except #8 and #18 are in good condition with a few blemishes here and there (being no different than any other year).

#13 green from the southeast side. Similar look to all the other greens aside from the front of  #8 and #18.

Someone walked across #2 green at the wrong time of winter and the footprints are quite obvious. That damage will be plugged out soon.

 #8 has the usual damage behind the front bunker. It will grow out with some help from Turf Care. The 18th green has taken a hit from ice damage as I suspected it would. I find it interesting that the 3 greens suffering the most this spring were all located around the clubhouse and golf shop. The micro climate in this area must have been warm enough at some point this winter (that week in January?) to cause the ice problem. It shows just how close we were to a serious situation on the other greens. The term is "dodging a bullet" I believe.

The 18th green showing some of the damage to the Poa on the right of the image. 

Over the next few weeks we will be out cleaning up the golf course. No matter how well leaf removal goes in the fall our winters seem to leave the property covered in branches, downed trees and more leaves. The turf on the greens, tees and fairways will be worked on so that we can present the course for opening day. May is always a month of rejuvenation and this year is no different. I'll blog the recovery outline for the warmup and the 18th green early next week. Until then enjoy The Masters.